 126-128. An Episode from the Gallic War |
131. The Death of Caesar  |
When, in 49 b.c., Caesar marched some of his troops south into Italy, and thus precipitated the civil war between himself and Pompey (cf. the episode in Lessons 117-125), Pompey was taken by surprise, and retired into Greece. In the decisive battle of Pharsalus, fought there in the following year, Caesar gained the first advantage, driving the Pompeians back to the shelter of their ramparts.
Caesar, Pompēiānīs ex fugā intrā vāllum compulsīs, nūllum spatium perterritīs darī oportēre existimāns, mīlitēs cohortātus est ut beneficiō Fortūnae ūterentur castraque oppugnārent. Quī, etsī magnō aestū fatlgātī —— nam ad merīdiem rēs erat perducta —— tamen ad omnem labōrem animō parātī, imperiō paruērunt.
Castra ā cohortibus, quae ibi praesidiō erant relictae, īndustriē dēfendēbantur, multō etiam ācrius ā Thrācibus barbarīsque auxiliīs. Nam quī ex aciē refūgerant mīlitēs, et animō perterritī et lassitūdine cōnfectī, missīs plērīque armīs sīgnīsque mīlitāribus, magis dē reliquā fugā quam dē castrōrum dēfensiōne cōgitābant. Neque vērō diūtius, quī in vāllō cōnstiterant, multitūdinem tēlōrum sustinēre potuērunt, sed cōnfectī vulneribus locum rellquērunt, prōtinusque omnēs, ducibus ūsī centuriōnibus tribūnīsque mīlitum, in altissimōs montēs, quī ad castra pertinēbant, cōnfūgērunt.
Caesar, castrīs potitus, ā mīlitibus contendit nē, in praedā occupātī, reliquī negōtī gerendī facultātem dīmitterent. Quā rē impetrātā, montem opere circummūnīre instituit.
Pompēiānī, quod is mōns erat sine aquā, diffīsī el locō, relictō monte, ūniversī iugīs eius Lārīsam versus sē recipere coepērunt. Quā rē animadversā, Caesar cōpiās suās dīvīsit, partemque legiōnum in castrīs Pompēī remanēre iussit, partem in sua castra remīsit, IV sēcum legiōnēs dūxit, commodiōreque itinere Pompēiānīs occurrere coepit, et progressus mīlia passuum VI, aciem īnstrūxit. Quā rē animadversā, Pompēiānī in quōdam monte constitērunt. Hunc montem flūmen subluēbat. Caesar mīlitēs cohortātus, etsī tōtius diēī continentī labōre erant cōnfectī noxque iam suberat, tamen mūnitiōne flūmen ā monte sēclūsit, nē noctū aquārī Pompēiānī possent.
Quō perfectō opere, illī dē dēditiōne missīs lēgātīs agere coepērunt. Paucī ōrdinis senātōriī, quī sē cum hīs coniūnxerant, nocte fugā salūtem petīvērunt. Caesar prīmā lūce omnēs eōs, quī in monte cōnsēderant, ex superiōribus locīs in plānitiem dēscendere atque arma prōicere iussit. Quod ubi sine recūsātiōne fēcērunt, passīsque palmīs proiectī ad terram flentēs ab eō salūtem petīvērunt, cōnsolātus cōnsurgere iussit et pauca apud eōs dē lēnitāte suā locūtus, quō minōre essent timōre, omnēs cōnservāvit.